I was first introduced to the wonders of the Burgess Shale by reading Steven Jay Gould’s book, Wonderful Life. And I was hooked – fascinated by the weird beauty of many of those Cambrian organisms. The one that made the greatest impression was Anomalocaris: a predatory animal up to a metre long, with a ring-shaped battery […]
Continue readingYear: 2009
an excellent editorial
There’s an excellent editorial in the UK newspaper The Guardian (& thanks to PZ, who first posted on this). Speaking of Darwin’s Origin of Species, the editor begins: The Daily Telegraph called him "the greatest naturalist of our time, perhaps all time". For the Morning Post he was "the first biologist of his day". The Times saluted […]
Continue readingcafe scientifique for darwin200
This one’s for readers in & around Hamilton – the topic for this month’s Cafe Scientifique will be: Charles Darwin – the man & his science. You’re very welcome to join us & talk about the man who did so much for our understanding of biology. The Cafes are held at B.B.C. (Bar, Bistro, Cafe), which […]
Continue readingthe plural of anecdote is not data
When I visited Ben Goldacre’s site the other day, it was apparently down. Then I read at Orac’s place that Ben was in trouble with a radio station in the UK, for posting much of a program that made some rather startling comments & claims about the MMR vaccine. I did a spot of net-surfing […]
Continue readingevolution & cancer
A couple of days ago, when I wrote about my friend’s death, I was also mulling over the idea of how the progression of cancer can be a good example of evolution in action. One of the hallmarks of cancerous cells is that they are capable of continued cell division. Plenty of opportunity, with all that […]
Continue readinga great scientist who touched flowers like a child
A few posts back I wrote about the importance of seeing Charles Darwin as a person, as well as a great scientist. Here’s a link to an article that demonstrates his humanity very well indeed. It’s by Ruth Padel, one of Darwin’s many great-great-grandchildren – enjoy.
Continue readingno science for you today
… & no bread recipes either. I’ve just got back from Wellington, where I helped to celebrate the life, & mourn the death, of someone who’d been a good & valued friend for 30 years (& who introduced me to the joys of playing the recorder properly, & the books of Ursula le Guin). For […]
Continue readingwhat women want
Ha! Got your attention! (& no, nothing to do with Mel Gibson.) What I really wanted to do was draw your opportunity to this post by PZ, over on Pharyngula. He’s talking about explanations offered by evolutionary psychology for various human behaviours. The article PZ’s commenting on was looking at people’s sexual responses to a variety […]
Continue readingunderstanding science
I’ve just come across a post by Phil Plait on Skepticblog, on understanding the nature of science. (Phil also writes the Bad Astronomy blog.) It’s clear & concise, & the comments thread is also excellent as it expands on some of Phil’s points. Included in his post is an introduction to the new website Understanding […]
Continue readingbone-eating worrrms!
‘Worms’ is a very general term that we tend to use for the variety of invertebrates that are soft-bodied & have a tubular body with a mouth at one end & an anus at the other. The familiar earthworm belongs to a group of worms called the annelids – worms with segmented bodies. There are […]
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